Trebettyn : snow and selling up

All good things come to an end and after the winter snow, Trebettyn farm goes under the hammer as the Iles family sell up and move on after 7 years.

The Iles’ family farm, ‘Trebettyn’, in Cowbridge, is seen under snow at the start of this film and under the hammer at the end. The family moved to the farm the week before Christmas in 1948 but sold up in 1955 after the eldest daughter married and moved to a farm of her own. An auctioneer is seen disposing of the farm’s equipment and Mrs Iles and her daughters have a final bonfire as the removal vans are packed up.

This reel, with footage in black and white and colour, also features a cross-country ride for a mixed-age group (with stops at various farms) and a Young Farmers’ event which involves competitions of skill (shearing, fencing) and fun (scarecrows, tugs-of-war). The footage was shot by Reginald George Iles, who worked for Imperial Tobacco’s Bonus Department in Cardiff. He was a founder member of the South Wales and Monmouthshire Agricultural and Horse Shows Association, recording shows/activities to screen at the end of the show season.